The North American species of Pholiota, by Alexander H. Smith and L. R. Hesler.

174

The North American Species of Pholiota

Pileus 2.5-4 cm broad, convex, not fully expanding, viscid, soon dry,
glabrous, ochraceous. Context yellow; odor and taste mild.
Lamellae adnate to subdecurrent, pale yellow, finally brown, close,
rather broad.
Stipe 3-5 cm long, 5-8 mm thick, clavate-bulbous, dry concolorous.
Veil arachnoid, white, copious, leaving an evanescent ring.
Spores 7-9 (10) x 4.5-5.5 (6) AF, elliptic to oval in face view, in profile elliptic to obscurely inequilateral, smooth, tawny in KOH but on
standing become paler and more ochraceous, in Melzer's reagent slowly
becoming dark reddish twany, wall (as measured in Melzer's reagent)
0.6-0.8 (1) /. thick, as measured in KOH (after mount stood for 2 hours
or more) 1-1.8 /L thick, apical pore evident and in KOH mounts the
apex obscurely truncated in some.
Basidia 4-spored, subcylindric to narrowly clavate, 26-30 x 6-7.5 F,
yellowish in Melzer's reagent, when first revived in KOH near lemonyellow but fading to near hyaline. Pleurocystidia absent or present as
contorted basidia (same size but more irregular in shape), irregular in
occurrence. Cheilocystidia present merely as basidioles (edge seen with
mostly fertile basidia). Caulocystidia slender, 30-80(100) x 4-7 xu,
flexuous-elongate to almost setiform, walls thickened slightly and ochraceous in KOH, smooth.
Gill trama of parallel thin-walled, non-gelatinous hyphae lemonyellow to pale ochraceous in KOH, cells short and much inflated in
central part, narrow to the cellular non-gelatinous inconspicuous subhymenium. No incrustations seen. Pileus cutis a gelatinous pellicle of
narrow (2-4.5 p.) incrusted but nearly hyaline interwoven hyphae,
collapsing, image not sharp (walls gelatinous); hypodermial area of
floccose hyphae 4-9 /. diam. with tawny incrustations as revived in KOH
(mostly as bands). Context hyphae inflated to 8-15 /., thin-walled and
yellowish to hyaline in KOH. Clamp connections present. All hyphae
inamyloid.
HABIT, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION: On dead fir (Abies), North
Carolina, September, Hesler 1400, type.
OBSERVATIONS: This is a distinctive species on the basis of the thickwalled spores, lack of pleurocystidia (for all practical purposes) and the
peculiar caulocystidia. It is clearly in the P. alnicola-malicola group.
Here it's distinguishing features are the incrusted cuticular hyphae, the
long flexuous often almost setiform caulocystidia with yellow walls in
KOH, and lack of a distinctive odor or taste. In KOH the spores of
P. abieticola are almost identical in color with those of P. malicola: a
dark yellow brown, but in Melzer's both become somewhat dextrinoid
(reddish tawny). Both have spore walls that swell appreciably in 2%
KOH.
88. Pholiota subvelutina sp. nov.
Illustrations: Text figs. 179-180.